Jordan’s Lobster Dock Offers At-Cost Lobsters for First Time in 40 Years

Jordan’s Lobster Dock in Sheepshead Bay has announced on its website that for the first time in its 40-year history (actually the business first started on Bleecker Street in 1938 before moving to Brooklyn), it’s serving lobsters at cost. The recent snow storms left the wholesale operation with 5,000 pounds of inventory to clear out, and we’re told one-and-a-quarter-pound lobsters can be taken away for $12 a pop, live or steamed (according to the website, larger lobsters are going for $6.99 per pound — compared to $15.99 per pound at Nick’s Lobster in nearby Mill Basin). If you haven’t experienced Jordan’s, you’ll want to get there before the deal expires at the end of the month. Before the likes of Luke’s Lobster, Dr. Claw, and Red Hook Lobster Pound hit the scene, Jordan’s was the inspiration for the 2005 indie flick Brooklyn Lobster, starring Danny Aiello, “presented” by Martin Scorcese, and written and directed by Kevin Jordan based on his family’s attempt to save the business from foreclosure as it struggled to open a restaurant annex (see trailer below).

According to the movie’s production notes, Bill Jordan, the “lobster king of New York,” “was the first to air-ship lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass lobster tanks found in local supermarkets today.” The restaurant annex never opened and the operation is now sandwiched between a TGI Friday’s and a Cold Stone Creamery, but its lighthouse and 25-year-old giant fisherman statue still stand tall, and you can still enjoy one of the city’s cheaper lobster rolls in a small seating area in front of the wholesale shop, or at a few outdoor picnic tables when the weather’s nice. Have we mentioned how much we really want it to be summer? Or maybe we should just thank the slushy streets for these $12 lobsters.